Wylie twice rallies to tie No. 1 Stephenville but 'Jackets secure 20th straight win

Twice Stephenville built a 14-point lead only to have Wylie roar back to tie the game.

The third time, however, wasn't the charm for the Bulldogs on homecoming night.

Down 56-42 with 2:31 to play after a 59-yard run by Tate Maruska, his fifth TD of the game, Wylie struck back with a touchdown on a 13-yard pass from K.J. Long to Kenny Scott with time left for more.

The onside kick, which worked before in the game, didn't this time and the Class 4A Division I Yellow Jackets secured their 20th straight win, 56-49, before a big crowd Friday at Sandifer Stadium.

"That has been our '22 season," Stephenville coach Sterling Doty said. "Just really proud of the resiliency we've had all season. It showed again here tonight in a hostile environment, great crowd. It was a playoff-type atmosphere. We're all going to get better

It was the second straight narrow home loss for Wylie, now 2-2.

"It's been two great football games the last two weeks, and we've come a little bit on the short end," Wylie coach Clay Martin said. "Our kids have played so hard and fought. I'm just really proud of their effort. This is going to build a lot of character in our team. We're going to go back to work. We've got another great opponent next week."

And it was the fourth straight game that Stephenville needed to put a lot of points on the scoreboard to win. The 'Jackets have won four games by a total of 33 points, including a last-second 62-61 victory over Everman in Week 2.

Stephenville led 28-14 near the end of the first half Friday before Wylie scored on a 58-yard touchdown pass from Long to Harrison Heighten, recovered a squib kick and scored with 49 seconds left in the half on Long's 13-yard strike to Derrick Evans to make it a 28-all game.

Kicking against the wind, Martin was only wanting to get the ball downfield but it ricocheted off a Yellow Jackets player. Reese Borho fell on it, putting the offense back on the field.

Long then threw the third of his five TD passes in the game.

The Yellow Jackets took a 42-28 lead in the third quarter, giving Wylie a taste of its own medicine.

After stopping Wylie on the Bulldog's first drive, Stephenville took the lead on a 20-yard pass from Ryan Gafford to Topher Foster on fourth down.

On the kickoff, kicker Carson Sandford bounced the football short and recovered himself. It took six plays for the 'Jackets to score again and take a 14-point lead.

"That's incredible momentum swing in the game," Martin said. But the Bulldogs kept playing.

"The way we responded to that, to be able to the tie the game up says a lot about our team," he said.

Wylie couldn't convert the extra points after its first touchdown in the rally but got a two-point conversion on a pass from Long to Malacki Daniels to tie the game at 42 with 6:54 to play.

But the third time that Stephenville surged, the Yellow Jacket hung onto the lead. Wylie's bid for the upset came up short.

Maruska, who came into the game with 773 yards rushing, went over 1,000 with 279 yards on 23 carries. The Wylie defense slowed him midway through the game, but he finished strong with 38- and 59-yard scoring runs. On both, the junior ran through holes created by good blocking and then away from Wylie defenders.

His big night rushing helped sophomore quarterback Gafford make good plays in winning what Doty called a playoff-caliber game in a playoff-like atmosphere.

"Obviously proud of Ryan for coming in and allowing the 10 other dudes who are really good around him to make plays," Doty said.

Gafford was 14 of 19 for 284 yards and three scores. He is playing in place of senior Ryder Lambert, who is out with an injury.

Landry Carlton ran for 104 yards for Wylie. It was his fourth game over 100 this season.

Long accounted for 96 yards rushing and 218 more passing. Under pressure and buying time until a receiver broke free, Long was sacked just once.

"K.J.'s done that all year. A kid that's a gamer and makes great decisions," Martin said.

Long believed the Bulldogs still had a shot with 2:31 to play and down 14 points. The rally did not start well with two penalties after an incompletion setting up Wylie with 2nd-and-20 from its 19. A late hit call on Stephenville helped get Wylie out the hole and Long hit his last four passes for 48, the last going to Scott for the TD.

"We were rolling all night and we felt like we could get another one," Long said. "Our offense executed really well tonight."

In the end, Payton Poston, who had six catches for 129 yards and a touchdown, fell on the onside kick for Stephenville.

""It was really great game. That's a great Stephenville team of there, and I'm proud of the way our team fought and played," Long said. "We were down 14-zero just like that. Our team kept fighting."

Breaking it down

∎ Turning points: Two recovered kicks after touchdowns. In a first-half chase, Wylie scored late in the half, then recovered a squib kick that struck a Stephenville player. The Bulldogs turned that into 7 more points to tie the game 28-28 at halftime. In return, Stephenville scored a second-half touchdown, then recovered an onside kick and scored again to take another 14-point lead, one that Wylie matched but could not overcome.

∎ Players of the game: Tate Maruska, Stephenville, running back – You cannot argue against a player who has gained more than 1,000 yards in four games. He got 279 against Wylie, using his blocking to break into the open and his speed to pull away from chasing Wylie defenders. He scored five touchdowns, though his 59-yarder late in the game left the Bulldogs with time to rally. On his next carry, he went to the turf to run clock. K.J. Long, Wylie, Wylie, quarterback – Long gallantly led the WHS offense, rushing for almost 100 yards and a TD, and throwing for more than 200 and four touchdowns. What was impressive is that he did this under pressure all night, buying the time he needed to make great plays.

∎ Key stat: 1,107. That's the total yards in the game. Fans who expected this to be a shootout were treated to a game with 105 points and six touchdowns of more than 30 yards. The outcome was in doubt until the final minute of play.

∎ Coach Martin said: “There's certain plays in a game that are huge opportunities to turn momentum and we let some of those get away," he said of giving up first downs and big plays on third and fourth downs. "Where we felt like we could've gotten off the field. You know, they've got a great offensive team and we've got to give all the credit to them."

∎ Coach Doty said: "Credit to their kids and their program," he said of Wylie's charges after falling behind by two touchdowns. They never stopped, but we've got to clean some things up to separate ourselves and put it to bed a lot earlier. But give them the credit, and our staff and players for making the calls and making the plays."

∎ Impact: Stephenville will keep its No. 1 ranking and try to win its 21st straight game next week. Wylie has lost two games at home by a combined 12 points.

∎ Up next: Wylie travels to San Angelo to play the Class 6A Bobcats for the first time in program history. The Bobcats, 2-2, belted Belton 35-12 Friday. Stephenville has it no easier, returning home to face Class 5A Division II No. 3 Wichita Falls Rider. Rider, 3-1, lost 17-14 to Lubbock-Cooper, which beat Wylie the week before.

NONDISTRICT

Stephenville 56, Wylie 49

FIRST QUARTER

STE − Tate Maruska 66 run (Diego Chavarria kick), 10:52

STE - Tristian Gentry 20 pass from Ryan Gafford (Chavarria kick), 7:42

WHS - K.J. Long 27 run (Brady Clark kick), 5:25

STE - Payton Poston 55 pass from Gafford (Chavarria kick), 3:19

WHS - Malachi Daniels 33 pass from Long (Clark kick), 0:00

SECOND QUARTER

STE − Maruska 1 run (Chavarria kick), 8:32

WHS - Harrison Heighten 58 pass from Long (Clark kick), 3:39

WHS - Derrick Evans 11 pass from Long (Clark kick), 0:49

THIRD QUARTER

STE − Topher Foster 20 pass from Gafford (Chavarria kick), 5:59

STE - Maruska 1 run (Chavarria kick), 4:40

FOURTH QUARTER

WHS − Julius Laine 13 run (kick blocked), 11:55

WHS - Kendrick Vanderbilt 13 pass from Long (Daniels pass from Long), 6:54

STE - Maruska 38 run (Chavarria kick), 6:00

STE - Maruska 59 run (Chavarria kick), 2:31

WHS - Kenny Scott 12 pass from Long (Clark kick), 1:42

TEAM STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Stephenville, Tate Marushka 23-279, Ryan Gafford, 11-40, Caden Henderson 2-5. Team 1-minus 2. Wylie, Landry Carlton 21-104, K.J. Long 14-96, Malachi Daniels 10-42, Julius Laine 5-29, Braden Regala 2-12.

PASSING: Stephenville, Gafford 14-19-0. Wylie, Long 18-27-1

RECEIVING: Stephenville, Tristian Gentry 5-134, Payton Poston 6-129, Topher Foster 1-20, Maruska 2-1. Wylie, Regala 5-29, Derrick Evans 3-39, Harrison Heighten 2-67, Daniels 2-43, Kendrick Vanderbilt 2-18, Kenny Scott 2-17, Carlton 2-5.

RECORDS: Stephenville 4-0, Wylie 2-2

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Wylie twice rallies to tie No. 1 Stephenville but 'Jackets prevail